TNAG-1941-FCO40-2767-Future-of-Hong-Kong-defence-and-public-order-1989 — Page 42

SECRET UK EYES A

whilst unchanged in spirit, has of necessity been less visible

in terms of deployed hardware.

20. So far as FPDA support in 1989 was concerned, by land HQBF

Hong Kong conducted several training deployments to Malaysia and

HQ 48 Gurkha Inf Bde and 7 GR. At sea, the participation of 2

Hong Kong Patrol Craft in Ex STARFISH was cancelled in the wake

of Tiananmen Square, but HMS BRAVE was deployed from the Gulf in

order to take part. On the air side, the RAF deployed a VC10K

tanker for the HQIADS ADEX 89/4 and an influential team attended

the IADS AD Seminar in Singapore in Nov. 1990 will, by

contrast, be another red letter year: HQBFHK will conduct its

first battalion scale exercise in Malaysia and HQ 5 AB Bde will

run the FPDA Landex in peninsular Malaysia; the Dartmouth Training Squadron (DTS) will visit the region; and there will be

a second and larger RAF deployment to participate in HQIADS ADEX 90/2. This cyclic pattern of support for the FPDA is planned to

continue for the foreseeable future.

21. Turning to the other countries in the Region from the

north to the south. At the beginning of 1989 defence relations

with China were at their best since the foundation of the

Peoples' Republic. As China had become more open and liberal under Zhuo Ziyang's influence so were PLA officers more ready to

talk and develop relations with the West. Chinese interest in

defence sales collaboration and technology transfer was matched

by an interest in British and Western defence thought, and the

increase in reciprocal high level visits resulted at long last in

a marked improvement in the defence section's access to the PLA.

The biannual RCDS visits were planned to become annual, (the

first Chinese Student completed RCDS in 1989), and a third RN

lecture tour was planned. Most significantly, after more than a

year's reticence, the Chinese had clearly decided to progress

the Bilateral Talks Initiative (proposed by VCDS in 1986) aimed

at identifying shared operational requirements with scope for joint cooperative development and production. The PLA DCGS (Equipments) visit to UK was reciprocated by FCO DUS (Defence)

and DCDS (S) to China. By the end of May, the UK's attaches were much in favour and a programme of high level military two-way visits had been arranged; the Royal Yacht was to visit Canton in

SECRET UK EYES A

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